Protective headgear and helmets have been used in a wide variety of applications and across a number of industries including sports, athletics, construction, mining, military defense, and others, to prevent damage to a user's head and brain. Damage and injury to a user can be prevented or reduced by helmets that prevent hard objects or sharp objects from directly contacting the user's head. Damage and injury to a user can also be prevented or reduced by helmets that absorb, distribute, or otherwise manage energy of an impact.
Different types of helmets have been used for different industries and for different applications, a number of which are included below. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,433 (hereinafter the “'433 patent”) shows a helmet shell with a liner removably attached to the helmet shell using hook and loop fasteners. U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,536 (hereinafter the “'536 patent”) shows a helmet shell with straps, webs, or suspended liners attached to the helmet shell with clips or rivets. Each of the '433 patent and the '536 patent are discussed briefly below with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A shows an approach to a helmet 10 that is similar to the helmet shown in FIG. 2 of the '433 patent. As shown in FIG. 1A, the helmet 10 can comprise a liner 12, into which are disposed a number of removable inserts or pads 14. Each pad 14 can be secured to the liner 12 by pairs of interlocking strips 16, such as strips of hook and loop fasteners. A foam backing or adhesive on the strips 16 can bond the each of the pair of the strips 16 to the liner 12. The pads 14 can be secured in position by pressing the pads 14 against the liner 12 to effect interlocking of the interlocking strips 16, and the pads can be removed from the liner 12 by pulling the pads 14 away from the liner 12 to release the interlocking strips 16 from holding the pads 14 to the liner 12.
FIG. 1B shows an approach to a helmet 20 that is very different to the approach discussed above with respect to the helmet 10 in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B shows the helmet 20, which is similar to the helmet shown in FIG. 9 of the '536 patent. As shown in FIG. 1B, the helmet 20 can comprise a fiberglass, metal, or plastic shell 22 and a headband 24 that is coupled to the shell 22 by placing a portion 25 of the headband 24 into a slot structure 26 that can be molded into the shell 22. The headband 24 can further be coupled to straps 28 that pass over a head of a wearer of the helmet 20, the straps 28 forming a seat for the head of the wearer as well as maintaining a certain specified distance between the head of the wearer and a top inside surface of the shell 22.